Thank you, Mom, for praying for me before you even knew I existed.

Thank you, Mom, for crying tears of joy when I entered the room in a little bundle of pink following the little bundle of blue.

Thank you, Mom, for being there through thick and thin, sick and sin,

Thank you for loving me despite the arguments we children inevitably ended up in,

Thank you for bringing me the lunches when I regularily forgot,

Thank you for bringing the kitty to school in Kindergarten when you know what happened and I had to get changed,

Thank you for helping me get redressed when the new bunny peed down my white Easter dress,

Thank you for your words of wisdom through the tough years of middle and high school,

Thank you for providing an example of service and humility,

Thank you for encouraging me the year I was out-voted, out-cheered and out-acted,

Thank you for driving me to the various service opportunities that became my life and for driving me all the way to ceramics class where I painted little figurines with senior citizens and loved every minute.

Thank you for taking art classes with me when everyone else was playing tennis and golf,

Thank you for teaching me the joys of walking by a mountain stream and finding a feather to keep and cherish,

Thank you for teaching me responsibility, budgeting and laundry temperature, and for talking by phone almost every day since I moved away 20+ years ago,

Thank you for helping me analyze life and figure out what it all meant,

Thank you for being my #1 friend,

BUT, most of all, thank you for teaching me the joy of the Lord, the joy of His creation and the joy of a youthful heart.

I pray that I can pass on even a little of what you taught me to my growing girls.
And, what I forget, I thank you for reminding me and taking the time to talk to the girls on the phone and send them cards and encourage them.

I feel so very blessed that YOU are my mom!

Time to get packed for Spring Break. I have been putting it off all week and now I can't ignore the job any longer.

We are going skiing in Vail, which doesn't mean shorts and t-shirts. It means packing bags full of snow gear, polytex underwear, socks, hats, scarfs, etc. etc. that can checked at the front gate and flown to Colorado. Don't get me wrong, I am excited. I hear there is tons of snow out there and it is going to be the skiing experience of a lifetime because I don't know how many more times I will attempt this in my life.

So much to do so little time. I certainly appreciate your prayers because between now and then there is life to live and things to do that have NOTHING to do with packing for Vail!! (When do I learn to say NO!) (Tea Party, Easter Egg Hunt, Trip down to in-laws for dinner, mini-quiches to cook for Palm Sunday, etc. etc.)

I have to add that in the middle of life's craziness, can I tell you that I LOVE my Y classes? I had to cut back due to other pressing matters in life but I subbed for a woman's Kinder Creations yesterday. She left me the book "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" which all the kindergarten age kids knew by heart. SOOOO, I had to embellish with little tidbits about a boy peeking through the window when Goldilocks threw Mama's porridge out the window. The little porridge-covered boy came back up several times through the story which had the kids howling. By the time we ended the story all I had to do was look at the kids and they started laughing. One little serious boy kept telling me to read it right but that just doesn't come easily to me. What fun! (Dang, I just typed the Y button off the laptop!)

I have also decided to give up several volunteer opps to work SERIOUSLY on the books I started last year. It is hard to tell people you are no longer available but it is very freeing! (Especially since my daughter keeps bugging to finish the first book I started. I am dedicating the book to her because it will be for her & because of her that I finish it!!)

Okay, on that note, I may or may not blog again until after our trip. Have an awesome week and Easter holiday!

Praise the Lord! He is Risen!!

Happy Valentine's Day Everyone!

(From Lindsey and I! This was after a day of skiing at Bear Creek, thus the red noses and cheeks.)

This one is for you, Michele, since it wouldn't come through on your phone.

You never have to wonder where we get the urge to dress up our food.

Happy July 4th everyone!

Check out the pictures just added to the Bananas Foster recipe two posts back! We tried it and it was so easy and out of this world delicious. Paula Deen is the queen of comfort food.

Happy Mother's Day!

Quotes for Mother's Day:

A mother is a person who seeing there are only four pieces of pie for five people, promptly announces she never did care for pie.  ~Tenneva Jordan

A man's work is from sun to sun, but a mother's work is never done.  ~Author Unknown

A song for mothers
Sung To "My Bologna Has a First Name"

Oh, my mother has a special name.
It s M-O-M-M-Y!

My mother has a special name.
It s M-O-M-M-Y!

Oh, I love to hug her every day.
And when I kiss her, I will say,

Mommy, mommy, I love you!
I L-O-V-E Y-O-U!

God our creator : we pray

God our Creator, we pray:
for new mothers, coming to terms with new responsibility ;
for expectant mothers, wondering and waiting;
for those who are tired, stressed or depressed;
for those who struggle to balance the tasks of work and family;
for those who are unable to feed their children due to poverty;
for those whose children have physical, mental or emotional disabilities;
for those who have children they do not want;
for those who raise children on their own;
for those who have lost a child;
for those who care for the children of others;
for those whose children have left home;
and for those whose desire to be a mother has not been fulfilled.
Bless all mothers, that their love may be deep and tender,
and that they may lead their children to know and do what is good,
living not for themselves alone, but for God and for others.
Amen.                          

Go check HERE for more great Mother's Day goodies!

Happy Easter Everyone!

Luke 24:46-49 (NKJV)

The Rest Stop gives a beautiful history of Valentine's Day, Saint Valentines and where our true focus should be – on the gift Jesus Christ gave us when He died for our sins, and rose again as our sacrifice and savior, giving us eternal life through Him.

I got this link courtesy of Denitra's Den.

This evening, my husband and I shared a wonderful dinner where he enjoyed the filet and I enjoyed the shrimp and scallops. My belly is full and I feel warm from the inside out! Of course, that didn't stop me from also enjoying a little of my secret dark chocolate stash in the baking ingredients cabinet.

Life is good and getting better all the time!

Happy Valentines Day to one and all!

After yesterday's slushy-ice day (not enough snow for a "snow day") and the break from school we enjoyed, this morning was just plain nuts.

"Mom, I want to look girlie today." Oh my, the moment finally arrived. My dear husband has been asking me for years when they would start caring about their own hair and brushing it rather than me brushing and them screaming. For some girls, this kicks in earlier and some later. My two, at ages nine and ten, hit today.

One had me braid her hair last night so it would be wavy today. The other had me put little pig tails in the sides of her hair in a fashion that had I suggested would not have been cool. But, it must be a popular style at school right now so up the hair went.

Before the hair came the sinking realization that I had planned nothing special for breakfast and at that moment had no idea where the Valentines chocolates had been stashed. I splurged at a fancy chocolatier a couple of weeks ago and bought little foil wrapped hearts in milk chocolate and peanut butter filled for them (dark for me).

Not in the pantry, not in the cabinets. Oh where, oh where? Maybe I'll find the books I stashed last summer that I never found. Creeping into my quiet room where my husband still slept, I finally found them in the little drawer under a lamp. Bingo!

My youngest asked, "What's for breakfast?"
"Why don't we heat up leftover pancakes?"
"Oh, mom, can't you think of something more special than that?"
Hmmm – well, where there is a will there is a way! Cookie cutters, mini chocolate chips and powdered sugar turned the leftover pancakes into treats fit for my little prima donas!
See below:

After finishing breakfast, I took the little misses off to school with bags loaded with Valentines treats to share and fresh lip gloss applied. I headed to the gym for a quick workout before being picked up by a friend for a wonderful morning of bible study and praise!

Thus ends my morning of pancakes, prima donas and praises. I can add the praise that my children were invited over to a friend's for dinner which will free the evening for my wonderful husband and I to spend together alone!

I also praise the wonderful invention of papermache and other clay-paper material found at AC Moore. On our day off, we had fun making various school projects as shown in their beginning stages below. Stay Tuned for the Finale when the items are finished and painted! Can you tell what they are or what books they are based on? (Hint: Both have to do with dragons which seems to be the popular theme right now!)

Have a super day – get creative!

Santa really did come to our house on Christmas day, bringing elves with him. Now we have the proof!